Machine for winding a ball



Feb. 8, 1966 R. cs. HOLMAN MACHINE FOR WINDING A BALL 15 Sheets-Sheet 1Original Filed Dec. 30, 1957 R m V m Jez/aozw/ 6 Ian/mu BY M4; W4

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MACHINE FOR WINDING A BALL Origihal Filed Dec. so, 1957 13 Sheets-Sheet5 J56 J44 E60 0.90 J50 INVENTOR. 194/004 6 0%1/1/44/ Feb. 8, 1966 R. s.HOLMAN MACHINE FOR WINDING A BALL Original Filed Dec. 30. 1957 13Sheets-Sheet 6 Q 4 w J Q M 6 J B a 9 4. (M4 j J c a 1 L n o. r a \J a 0l a 2 4 e 0 2 M M j Q 1 Feb. 8, 1966 R. e. HOLMAN MACHINE FOR WINDING ABALL Original Filed Dec. 50, 1957 13 Sheets-Sheet '7 IN VEN TOR. flmamfl 6115 00144 ArroeA/zm Feb. 8, 1966 R. s. HOLMAN 3,234,352

MACHINE FOR WINDING A BALL Original Filed Dec. 30, 1957 13 Sheets-Sheet8 tau MW: ,ez'cr/i/ie 1503 INVENTOR. 4? #004, 14 31700144 Feb. 8, 1966R. a. HOLMAN MACHINE FOR WINDING A BALL Original Filed Dec. 30, 1957 13Sheets-Sheet 9 Feb. 8, 1966 R. 5. HOLMAN MACHINE FOR WINDING A BALL .13Sheets-Sheet 10 Original Filed Dec.

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INVENTOR. 462504 6a..bZ/V/4A/ BY W4 13 Sheets-Sheet 15 R. G. HOLMANMACHINE FOR WINDING A BALL Original Filed Dec. 30, 1957 Feb. 8, 1966United States Patent 3,234,362 MACHINE FOR WINDlNG A BALL Rudolph G.Holman, Anaheim, Calif., assignor to W. 3. Volt Rubber Corp, acorporation of California Original application Dec. 30, 1957, Ser. No.705,994, now

Patent No. 2,995,311, dated Aug. 8, 1961. Divided and this applicationOct. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 62,293

7 Claims. (til. 235-1511) This invention relates to an apparatus formaking a winding on play balls and commercial balls. The invention isapplicable to such balls as volley balls, basketballs, baseballs, etc.and also balls which are used as floats, buoys, fish-net balls and otherspherical articles requiring a reinforcing winding or a carcass made offine string or thread.

This application for patent is a division of the parent applicationSerial Number 705,994, filed December 30, 1957, now Patent No.2,995,311, entitled, The Method of Winding a Ball.

The parent application discusses the method of producing a winding on aball while this application relates to the apparatus for applying thewinding to the ball.

The thread windings, or a hvinding as it will be called in thisspecification (the completed layer of wound thread) fixes the size ofthe ball and provides a very strong flexible layer on the ball which canresist pressure of air pumped into the ball.

The disclosed apparatus for applying the winding to a ball is anelectronically-controlled apparatus which permits the introduction of alarge number of control stations for selecting and modifying eachprogram cycle and the number of the program cycles used, or contained inthe complete cycle. The meaning of these two terms, the program cycleand the complete cycle will become more apparent from the description ofthe programming system, which is the electronic system controlling themechanic components of the ball-winding machine. Briefly stated, theprogram cycle is the cycle which determines the number of turns used inthe cycle, the position of these individual 366 turns on the outersurface of the ball, the position of the turns with respect to eachother within the program cycle and the position of the program cycleswith respect to each other on the balls surface. The program cycle has awinding period, or time interval, and the pause period, the two timeperiods constituting the complete program cycle. All of the parametersof the program cycle can be varied by means of the programming systemand since each individual cycle may be made to be identical to all otherprogram cycles or may be made to differ from all other program cycles,it becomes necessary to introduce the additional term, the completecycle" which defines, or describes the number of the individual programcycles included in the complete cycle. By definition, it means that thecomplete cycle may include a variable number of the program cycles. Inthe illustrated electronic programming system such number of the programcycles within the complete cycle may vary from 1 to 10 merely becausethere are ten pairs of program cycle switches and electronic gates inthe system. This number of components may be decreased or increased withthe corresponding decrease or increase in the number of availablevariables in the complete cycle.

- For the sake of simplicity, it will be assumed in this introductorypart of the specification that the program cycle has six complete turns(it may have from 2 to turns with the disclosed apparatus) in eachprogram cycle and that this cycle repeats itself throughout the completecycle. It should be mentioned here, that the complete winding mayinclude a large number of the complete cycles, such as 840, depending onthe number of the program cycles in the complete cycle and the type ofthe desired winding. In the above example, it has been assumedarbitrarily that the complete cycle includes ten program cycles.

With the above simplifying assumptions, each of the successive windingperiods within the program cycles comprises a group of turns which maybe compared with, and which resemble, a series of intersecting greatcircles of longitude on a globe representing the earth. Thus, thesuccessive individual turns of a wind period intersect in twodiametrically opposite polar regions of the ball, just as the imaginarylines of longitude intersect at the two opposite polar regions of theearth. The transition from one wind period to another is accomplishedsimply by continuing the final turn of a preceding wind period along atrue great circle for a predetermined fraction of a turn during thepause period of each program cycle and then repeating the original windperiod with the ensuing successive turns intersecting at a new pair ofpolar regions. The new pair of polar regions is displaced from thepreceding pair by a predetermined distance and also in a predeterminedrelative direction, as determined by the duration of the pause periodwithin each program cycle.

While the new winding pattern may be controlled and predetermined withhigh precision, it is, nevertheless, exceedingly flexible in that thepattern and several parameters of the program cycle and of a group ofprogram cycles, constituting the complete cycle, may be widely variedwith the aid of an electronic programming system in various definitelyknown respects within the judgment exercised by those operating themachine.

it is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide anelectronically controlled ball-winding machine which is'capable ofproducing a winding on a ball having a predetermined controllablepattern composed of the previously defined program cycles and completecycles.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a machine of theabove type in which the parameters of the program cycle and of thecomplete cycle may be varied in a predetermined predictable manner.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a machine forproducing a winding on a spherical object which satisfies many desiredrequirements, such as finite thickness, flexibility, bursting pressure,weight, uniformity of stress-strain characteristics throughout thespherical configuration of the winding and its thickness, dynamiccharacteristics of a ball when such winding is used for makingplay-balls, and a number of other features which must be satisfied bythe windings of the above type, including reasonable cost, smooth outersurface, uniform distribution of individual turns throughout thewinding, and as close an approximation of great circles as possible bythe individual turns so long as such approximation constitutes apracticable compromise with the optimum solution of the requirementsimposed by the numerous other winding parameters.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of theinvention, both as to its organization and method of operation, togetherwith further objects and advantages thereof, will be better understoodfrom the following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which several embodiments of the invention are illustratedas examples of the invention. It is to be expressly understood, however,that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and descriptiononly, and are not intended as a definition of the elements of theinvention. Referring to the drawings:

H6. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a sphere with a group of winding turnsconstituting a portion of the winding applied during one program cycle;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing a second succeeding winding period ofthe next program cycle added to the first program cycle to show thegeometrical relationship between successive program cycles;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the distribution of turns in a typical programcycle, and especially the type of a polar region which may be employedwith the invention;

FIGS. 4 and 4A are additional plan views of another type of thedistribution of turns in a single program cle;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the drive mechanism for a reciprocating rodincluding the driving motor, computercontrolled clutch and brake, arevolutions pulse generator, a cam and the reciprocating rod.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the cam shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the revolutions pulse generator shown in FIG.5;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of two winding stations;

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view of the winding apparatus takenalongline 9-9 shown in FIG. 8, this view being the view of the windingmechanism at one of the winding stations;

FIG. 10 is a plan, or horizontal view of one station, which view ispartly in section taken along line 10l0 illustrated in FIG. 9;

' FIG. 11 is a sectional view of an idler roller taken along line1.1-ll1 shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a simplified plan view of the winding mechanism at a windingstation of the apparatus, the mechanism being shown at one stage of thewinding operation;

' FIG. 13 is an end elevation of the structure shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a plan view similar to FIG. 12 at another stage in thewinding period;

FIG. 15 is an end elevation of the structure shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a plan view similar to FIGURES l2 and 14 showing the windingmechanism at still another stage of'the winding period;

FIG. 17 is an end elevation of the structure shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a block. diagram of the electronic programmer for selectingand, once the selection has been made, controlling the program cyclesand the complete cycle;

FIGS. 19 through 21 are the schematic diagrams of the computer;

FiG. 22 illustrates the matching positions of FIGS. 21 through 23 withrespect to each other for obtaining the complete schematic diagram;

FIG. 23 is the front view of the control panel for the programmer;

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram illustrating program cycles and acomplete cycle plotted against time-axis.

Referring to FIG. 1, it represents a ball having six turns applied tothe ball during the first program cycle, the successive turns of thecycle being numbered 1 to 6. In this particular instance, theillustrated program cycle is the type in which all of the windingsintersect at two polar points P, there being two such polar points at,diametrically opposite positions on the periphery of the ball, and thenumber of turns has been limited to six turns. Moreover, the successiveturns of the winding are displaced by an angle Q6 which, in the selectedprogram cycle is equal to approximately 15 as measured by the angles atthe polar points'P. Thus, the total displacement for this particularprogram cycle is 90 and the completed winding period of the programcycle covers "approximately two diametrically opposite quadrants of thespherical area of the ball. As will be pointed out later, the number ofturns, angle or and the locus of points P may be varied in each windingperiod of each program cycle, which cycle includes the winding periodandthe .pause period. The duration of the pause period can also bevaried and it is the duration of the pause period that determines theangular displacement of the 4, polarized group turns (turns 1 through 6in FIG. 1) which are produced during the winding period of each programcycle. This will be discussed more in detail in connection with FIGS. 2,3 and 4.

FIG. 2 shows the next succeeding polarized group of turns comprising sixidentical turns, numbered 1a to 6a, intersecting at a pair ofdiametrically opposite pole points P. It is to be noted that the lastturn 6 of the first winding program-cycle is continued, the two poles Pand P being spaced apart on the continuation of turn 6. The circulardistance P-P' is, of course, a fraction of a circle, and in the selectedexample angle 0 FIG. 1 is equal to In the same way a third successivepolarized group of turns, which is not shown in FIG. 2, would start withthe continuation of the turn d-a and one of the poles of the thirdwinding period would be on the turn p-a, the adjacent poles beingdisplaced by 120". It is apparent that the paths described by thesuccessive pairs of poles will conform to a particular geometricalpattern, the selected pattern of pole migration being such as to achievethe desired uniform distribution of the wound material over thespherical area of the ball. In the above example, angle 6 remainsconstant, angle a remains constant and 1 also remains constant, where 1is the number of complete turns produced during time t where t is theduration of the winding period of the program cycle. As statedpreviously, all of the above parameters, 1 t 0 and a can be varied inthe manner described below,

For a more detailed description of the windings, individual turns, andthe pattern followed by the individual turns, reference is made to thepatent application Serial Number 705,994, now US. Patent 2,995,311, is-

sued August 8, 1961, which is made a part of this disn closure.

BALL-WINDING MACHINE (M echanigal portion) Proceeding now with thedescription of the winding apparatus, FIGS, 5 through 11 disclose themechanical portion of the ball winding machine which is controlled bythe electronic programmer illustrated in FIGS/18 through 22. 5

Referring to FIG. 5 a synchronous motor 500 is cone nected to a sourceof power such as 6G cycle alternating current power line. Thesynchronous motor is connected to a shaft 501, a gear box 502 andelectrically actuated clutch 5&3 connected to a shaft 504 andelectrically actuated brake 55 and shaft 596 mounted in bearings 507,508 and 509. Shaft 505, which is connected to and disconnected fromshafts 504 and 501 by means of the electric clutch 503, also includes arotatable permanent magnet arm 510 which is rigidly attached to shaft506 by means of a clamp 511. This arm has an adjustable pole-piece 512which is adjusted to produce a low reluctance path through a magneticpicig-up circuit 513 The arm 510 and circuit 513 generate a pulse andimpress it on a conductor 514 connected to the electronic programmerwhich controls the operation of clutch 5G3 and of brake 565 in such amanner so as to start and stop the rotation of shaft 586 for controllingthe winding pattern produced on the ball. Shaft 506 also includes a cam515 which is also shown in FIG. 6. This cam is attached to shaft 596 andrevolves with the shaft.

Cam 515 is mechanically connected to a cam follower 5'16 and camfollower 51s is connected to a reciprocating arm 517. Arm 517 in turn isconnected through a coupling 518 to a reciprocating rod 212 whichcontrols.

the position of all ball-supporting beveled rollers 1 14, FIGS. 10, 11,9 and 12-1'7and in this manner controls the type of a single turnproduced on the ball, such as turns 1 through 6 illustrated in FIG. 1.The eccentricity of cam 515 controls the magnitude of the angle t and ofthe angle 0 since angle 6 is equal to the angle or multiplied by thenumber of complete turns used in a single winding cycle or period, i.e.0=om7. As will be pointed out later, it is also possible to vary a and 9by an additional control means, other than cam 515 which will bedescribed later after concluding the description of FIGS. 5 through 23.

The side views of cam 515 and of the mechanical arm 510 and of the pulsegenerator 513 is also illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 7 alsoillustrates the direction of rotation of the mechanical arm 510. It isimmaterial whether shaft 506 rotates clockwise or counter-clockwise.

The synchronous motor 560 is connected to the power line through anappropriate switch (not illustrated) and this switch remains closed aslong as the winding machine is in operation. Therefore, motor 501)provides a constant speed drive for the reciprocating rod 212 which isthus reciprocated in synchronism with the remaining drive mechanisms ofthe machine. These additional drive mechanisms are also driven by thesynchronous motors connected to the same source of AC. power having aconstant frequency. Accordingly, as long as the synchronous motor 500and all other synchronous motors are connected to the constant frequencysource, the pro gramming of the program-cycle and of the complete cycleis determined by the signals delivered by the programmer to clutch 503and brake 505.

The reciprocating rod 212 may control any number of individual ballwinding units, the term unit being considered here as constituting asingle station of the machine capable of winding a single ball. In theex ample illustrated in FIGS. 5 through 23, the reciprocating rod 212controls units, or stations, ten stations being arranged in a single rowon one side of the rod and ten additional stations being arranged in thesecond row on the other side of rod 212, the two rows being in aback-to-back relationship with respect to each other with thereciprocating rod 212 being a common element for both rows.

The plan views and the side-views of the two back-toback stations of theabove type is illustrated in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10. Referring to FIGS. 8through 11 collectively, where the same elements bear the same numerals,the two rows of stations are mounted on two elevated co-planar platformsor base plates 111). Each of the winding stations has a drive roller 112and two beveled idler rollers 114 which cooperate to provide athree-point seat for supporting a ball B. At each of the windingstations a thread 1110 is supplied by a spool 115 and controlled by awell known type of automatic tensioning device 116. Thread 18% is ledupward through a sleeved aperture 118 to the periphery of the ball asshown in FIG. 9. At each winding station an automizer or spray head 120is adjustably mounted by a jaw-type holder 122, FIG. 8, on an uprightsupport rod 124. The various spray heads are supplied by a compressedair supply pipe and a liquid supply pipe 126 which are housed in alongitudinal channel 128 along each row of stations. Air from the supplypipe 125 is supplied to each of the spray heads 120 through a flexiblehose 1% controlled by a valve 132 and a liquid cement from the supplypipe 126 is fed to the spray head through a hose 134 having a valve 135.A third hose 136 is connected to each spray head for remote control ofthe operation of the gun by air pressure. In the presently preferredpractice of the invention the liquid supplied by pipe 126 is acoumaroneindene resin but other adhesive liquids can be used in variouspractices of the invention.

The two rows of winding stations are provided with an upright framestructure 138 mounted on plate 11!). Frame 138 carries a central exhaustduct 148 for removing vapors released by the spray heads 120. This ducthas an intake port 141 at each winding station. Mounted on top of theframe structure 138 is a pair of shafts 142 journaled in spaced bearings144. Shafts 142 extend through the entire length of the machine.Rotatably mounted on these shafts 142 are a plurality of overhangingarms 145, there being one arm at each winding station to weight downball B. Each of these overhead arms 6. 145 carries a small pressureroller, or caster, 146 in a swivel bracket 143. The swivel bracket 148has a shank 159 that extends through a longitudinal slot 152 in theoverhead arm and is adjustably retained therein by a pair of nuts 154.

Each of the overhanging arms 145 is independently rotatable on thecorresponding shaft 142 and may be individually and manually swung upand back to permit replacement of a ball at the winding station. Ifdesired, however, all of the overhanging arms 145 on either of the twoshafts 142 may be raised simultaneously by rotation of the shaft. Forthis purpose each of the overhanging arms 145 has a rearwardly extendingflange 155 which normally rests against an adjustable screw 156 carriedby a finger 158. The finger 158 is unitary with a sleeve 160 that isfixedly mounted on the corresponding shaft 142 by a set screw 162, shownin FIG. 8. It is apparent that rotation of a shaft 142 in a direction todepress the fingers 158 thereon will cause all of the overhanging arms145 on the shaft to be rotated upward.

Each of the winding stations is partially enclosed by a suitable hood tocause the vapors released by the spraying operation to be confined anddrawn off by the exhaust duct 140. The hood for each winding stationincludes two side walls 164, FIG. 10, a front wall and a top cover 166fastened to the overhanging arm 145 FIG. 9.

All of the drive rollers 112 of the winding stations are connectedthrough individual gear boxes 167 to the individual synchronous motors168 which are connected to the same source of alternating current asmotor 500 in FIG. 5. Motor 168 is manually operated by means of a startswitch 169 and stop switch 170. This motor is also operated (stopped) bya counter 172 in the manner described below. A metallic gutter 171 isused for housing the wiring for the motors and counters, or timers 172,which are operated by the programming system. The programmer sendstiming pulses into timer 172 which has a relay (not visible) mounted intimer 172. The programmer sends a pulse every 4.3 seconds, or some othersuitable time interval, which operates the counter in the timer, thedial 173 of counter (see FIG. 8, top) counting the number of pulsesreceived by the counter. After timer 1-72 (or counter) receives apredetermined number of pulses, it automatically shuts off motor 168independent of the manually operated switches 169 and 176. The operatorthen removes the wound ball, inserts the new ball, having no winding,connects thread 100 to the surface of the new ball by manually windingseveral times, depresses the timer switch 173 which again starts thewinding period of the next program cycle.

As bestsh-own in FIG. 11, each of the beveled idler rollers .114 ismounted by means of a ball bearing 192 on a spindle 194 which is carriedby an inclined sleeve 195. Inclined sleeve 1 95 is fixedly held by ascrew 196 on an inclined pivot pin 198 and the opposite ends of thepivot pin are journaled in suitablebearing bushings 200 in a bracket2192. Each of brackets 202 is mounted by a central screw 294 on thecorresponding platform 110 and is secured against rotation on theplatform by a suitable key or dowel 205.

Sleeve 195, that carries spindle 194, has a control arm 2116 (FIGS. 9and 10) for oscillation of the idler roller 114 about the axis ofinclined pivot pin 193. As best shown in FIG. 10, the two controlarms266 of the two idler rollers 114 at each winding station areconnected by a pair of corresponding links 203 to an angular bracket216. All of the angular brackets 210 of the two rowsof winding stationsare fixedly mounted on the longitudinal- 'ly reciprocative rod 212 (seealso FIG. 5 for rod 212) that is slidingly mounted in suitable bearings'214. Rod 212 is reciprocated longitudinally by cam 515, as describedpreviously, to cause simultaneous oscillation of all of the idlerrollers 114 of the two rows of the winding stations.

As may be seen in FIG. 10, the two beveled idler rollers 114 at eachwinding station are relatively close together with their beveledsurfaces being tangential to ball B. As: may be seen in FIG. 9, the axisof the drive roller 112 at each winding station is positioned in adirection approximately 45 downward from the horizontal plane passingthrough the center of ball B. The axis of oscillation 177 (see FIG. 11)of each of the idler rollers 114 i.e., the axis of the inclined pivotpin 198, passes through the point of tangential contact of the beveledidler roller with the periphery of ball B and intersects the center ofthe ball at an angle of 45 downward from the horizontal planepassingthrough the center of the ball.

The oscillating action of the two beveled idler rollers 114 and theireffect on the rotation of the ball B may be understood by reference toFIGS. 12 through 17. FIGS. 12 and 13 show both of the idler rollers 114at their mid-points of oscillation; FIGS. 14 and 15 show the two idlerrollers at one extreme of their range of oscillation; and FIGS. 16 and17 show the two idler rollers at the other extreme of their range ofoscillation. The axis of rotation of ball B is indicated by the brokenline 215. In FIGS. 12 and 13 this axis 215 is parallel with the axis ofrotation 216 of the drive roller 112. The axis 215 of the balloscillates in the same plane as the axis 216 and, except for themomentary transitory position of the axis shown in FIG. 12, axis 215intersects axis 216 as shown in FIGS. 14 through 17. The two axes ofrotation 177 of the two idler rollers 1-14 oscillate in the plane of theaxis 215 of ball B and constantly intersect axis .215. The two idlerrollers 114 make one complete oscillation aboutthe axis 177, from theposition shown in FIG. 12 to that in FIG. 14, then back to the positionshown in FIG. 12, then to the position shown in FIG. 16 and back to theposition shown in FIG. 12 during one revolution of the ball in theillustrated program cycle. Therefore, the synchronous motors 500 and 168are geared down so as to produce one complete revolution of shaft 506and of cam 515 by motor 500 while motor 168/: and drive roller.112produce one revolution of ball B. If the relationship of .thespeedof the ball to the speed of complete oscillation of the push-rod212 and cam 515 is as indicated above, then the angular positions of therespective turns 1 through 6 will be of the type illustrated in FIGS. .1and 2. If thedirection of the angular shift ,ofeach point of the curvefollowed by the thread is examined in the plan .view indicated in FIGS.1 and 2, one can see that there is a continuous angular shift of thewinding in the counter-clockwise direction from turn 1 to turn 6, thiscounter-clockwise shift taking place around the pole P in FIG. 1 and thepoles P and P in FIG. 2.

This counter-clockwise shift also applies to the half turns ontheotherside of the ball, which are illustrated by a series of dottedlines. Such continuous counter-clockwise sh-ift takes place even throughrod 212, obviously, has a strictly reciprocating motion because as rod2-1-2 rnoyes in .oncdirefiction ball B travels 180 and, therefore, whenrod 212 begins to move in the opposite direction it engages the oppositehemisphere of the ball with the, vnet result that insofar as thepositionof the turns on the ball is concerned, they constantly shift inthe counterclockwise ;direction, .when viewed in FIG. 1, around P 1rP-ELECTRONIC PROGRAMMER (For conlr ol iltg IhebalL-winding machine) hasbeen described already in the introductory part of the specification,the program cycle includes a wind period and a pause period. Theseperiods follow each other and areillustrated in FIG. 21 for tenconsecutive turns. -It also has been mentioned previously that it ispossible to var' the duration of the wind period as well asthedurationof the pause period in each program cycle. .The :above isillustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 24 where the program cycles areplotted along a time axis 2400. There are ten program cycles in FIG. 24and these ten cycles make up one complete cycle.

The duration of the wind period is determined by allowing only apredetermined number of the wind timing pulses 1800 to go through thewind switch. This will become more apparent from the description of theblock and schematic diagrams, FIGS. 18 through 21 of the programmer.Pulses 18% are the pulses which are generated by the revolving magnetarm 51% and the magnetic pick-up circuit 513 and, therefore, are thepulses which determine the number of complete reciprocations performedby rod 212 and rollers 114. The timing pulses 191% for the pause periodare obtained from the 60- cycle power line by rectifying them and thenobtaining pulses per second timing signal which is used for operatingthe programmer during the pause period. Since the repetition rate of the120 pulses per second is much higher than of the wind pulses 18%, theyare more closely spaced in FIG. 21 than the wind pulses 18520.Accordingly the duration of the wind period and of the pause period ineach program cycle depends on the number of pulses 1890 and 1911}allowed .to get through the programmer during these two periods. Asshown in FIG. 24, any desired combination of the pulses 1800 and 1910,within the limitations imposed by the wind and pause switches, can beprogrammed into the programmer for producing a complete cycle.

The maximum number of the program cycles that may be included in onecomplete cycle depends on the total number of the program cycle switchesthat are made available on the front panel of the programmer, on thenumber of the cathode positions in the glow transfer tubes and also onthe number of the positions available on the programming switch. Thenumber of the positions on the programming switch is always equal to themaximum number of the program cycles available for completing onecomplete cycle. Since each program cycle requires a wind switch and apause switch, (two switches) it follows that a complete cycle whichincludes ten program cycles will have a programming switch having tenpositions and it will have ten selector switches for ten wind cycles, orperiods, and ten selector switches for ten pause periods. Therefore, thecomplete cycle composed of ten program cycles will require twenty-oneswitches, altogether. The face of the panel for each programmer isillustrated in FIG. 23. i i

In the above example, where the complete cycle may include ten programcycles, the program selector switch permits one to include any desirednumber of the program cycles from one to ten, in one complete cycle.This means that when the complete cycle is made to include only oneprogram cycle, then the first program cycle is repeated continuouslyduring the entire Winding operation for completing the entire winding ofthe ball. The programming switch enables one to include any number from1 to 1S-of the program cycles in one complete cycle, and this completecycle is repeated many times to complete the entire cord winding desiredon the ball.

The programmer is so organized that it is possibleto select the programcycle by means of the programming switch in the following series:

Program cycle 1 which repeats itself continuously; program cycles 1 and2; or 1, 2 and 3; or 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. up to cycles 1 through 10.

The above will become more apparent from the description of the blockand schematic diagrams, FIG. 18 through 21, the description of which isgiven below.

Referring to FIG. 18, it illustrates an abridged block diagram of theentire programmer. The programmer is controlled by two input signals.The first input signal is signal 18% which is produced by the revolvingmagnetic arm 510 and the magnetical pick-up 513 connected to a pulsegenerating circuit 1801. Devices of the above type are well known in theart and, as a rule, consist of the following elements: Magnetic pick-up513 consists of a magnetic core with the primary and secondary windingswound upon this core. The primary winding is closed upon itself. Theprimary winding may be connected to a source of alternating currentpotential 1802 and the secondary winding is connected to a thyratronphase detector 1801, which is also connected to the alternating currentsource 1802. The parameters of the primary and secondary circuits are soarranged that the two circuits are in phase opposition with respect toeach other when arm 510 is not in the proximity of the magnetic pick-up513. When the term-magnetic arm 510 is in the proximity of the magneticpick-up 513, the phase relationship of the primary and secondarycircuits is altered to a sulficient extent so as to produce a highpositive signal on the control grid of the thyratron in the phasedetector circuit 1801.

The thyratron becomes conductive only for a very short interval of timecorresponding to the duration of the positive portion of the alternatingsignals and it is then rendered non-conductive by the removal of theplate potential on the plate of the thyratron by the ringing circuitconnected in the plate of the thyratron. The resulting positive signalis signal 18% which occurs once for each revolution of shaft 506. In theexample selected for the description of the over-all system, it has beenassumed that the two synchronous motors 500 and 168, the gear boxes 502and 167, as well as the dimensions of the drive wheel 112 are soproportioned as to produce one complete turn such as turn 1 in FIG. 1 ofthread 100 on ball B. Therefore, since pulse 1800 is produced by thepulse generator 1881 for each turn of shaft 5636, shaft 506 makes onerevolution for each complete turn of thread 108 on ball B.

FIGURE 1 illustrates that during one program cycle 6 complete turns arewound on the ball whereupon the winding period is followed by the pauseperiod which is produced by disconnecting clutch 503 and applying brake505 to shaft 586. It is also necessary to have a timing signal forcontrolling the pause period. The timing signal for the pause period isobtained by connecting the 60 cycle source 1802 to a full wave rectifier1803 and then impressing the output of the rectifier on an and gatecircuit 1884. The and gates 1804 and 1885 are controlled by the clutchsignal appearing on conductors 1806 and 1897 and by the brake signalappearing on conductors 1808 and 1809. The control of the gates 1804 and1885 is such that when the wind signal gets through gate 1805 the timingsignal from rectifier 1803 is blocked and vice versa.

The gates 1804- and 1805 are connected to a step amplifier 1818 whoseoutput is connected to the guide pins of a bi-directional glow transfertube 1811 which has ten stable state cathodes through 9 and twoconventional glow transfer pins posted between each cathode. Tube 1811may be considered as a decimal counting tube for counting the pulsesimpressed on the guide pins and after counting ten pulses it returns toits original zero position after delivering a pulse to a step amplifier1812 which is connected to a bi-directional glow transfer tube 1813.This tube is identical to tube 1811; it has ten cathodes 0 through 9 sothat it is capable of counting the pulses impressed upon it by the unitstube 1811, such as every 10th pulse 1800 or every 10th pulse 1910,depending upon the state of the settings of the pause and wind switches1820-1829 and 1830-1839.

The cathodes 1814 of tube 1811 are connected in parallel to the unitscontacts of the pause switches 1820 through 1829 and also to the units"contacts of the wind switches 1830 through 1839. The cathodes of tube1813 are also connected to the wind and pause switches 1820 through1839, but in this case the cathodes are connected to the tens contactsof the switches. These connections are omitted in the block diagram forits simplification, but are illustrated, in part, in the schematicdiagrams and will be described more in detail later.

all)

The outputs of the wind and pause switches 1820 through 1839 areconnected to the three-legged and gates 1840 through 1859. The outputsof the gates 1840 through 1849 are buffered together to a commonconductor 1860 which receives signals from one of the gates 1848 through1849 at any given instant. Conductor 1860 is connected over a conductor1869 to an amplifier 1868 and the output of amplifier 1868 is connectedover a conductor 1870 to a thyratron flip flop circuit 1864. The outputof the thyratron flip flop circuit 1864 is connected to the brakewinding 1855 and to the clutch winding 1871 which are the controlwindings of the brake 585 and clutch 503 illustrated in FIG. 5. Thegates 1850 through 1859 are buffered to a common conductor 1867 which isconnected to an amplifier 1862 through a conductor 1861.

The outputs of the three-legged and gates 18404849 and 1850-1859 arecontrolled, respectively, by the two signals: the first signal is theone produced by the pause switches 1820 through 1829 and the secondsignal is the one produced by the wind switches 1830 through 1839. Thewind and the pause switches are connected to the cathodes of the unitsand tens tubes 1811 and 1813. The third signal is impressed on the thirdleg of all the gates 1840-1859 by conductors 1880 through 1889 which areconnected to the cathodes of the program selector tube 1875.

Therefore, the gates 1840-1859, in addition, are also controlled by theprogram tube 1875 which is identical to the tubes 1811 and 1813. The tencathodes of tube 1875 are connected directly to the conductors 1880through 1899. These connections are not illustrated in the block diagrambut will be described here as follows: cathode 1 is connected toconductor 1880; cathode 2 is connected to conductor 1881, etc.

The function performed by the program cycle switch 1900 is to select thenumber of the individual program cycles to be used in the completecycle. In order to achieve this, the outputs of the gates 1850 through1859 are connected to the program switch 1900 which has ten positions.Slider 1901 may be shifted to any one of the ten positions. Slider 1901is connected to an amplifier 1902 and the output of amplifier 1902 isconnected through a conductor 1903 to a cathode 1 of tube 1875. Whenslider 1981, for example, is positioned on contact 6 of switch 1900,gate 1855 delivers a control pulse to amplifier 1902 and this pulse isimpressed on cathode 1 of the program cycle tube 1875, thus resettingthis tube back to its reset cathode. Such resetting of the program cycletube 1875 returns the complete cycle back to the gates 1840 and 1850which control the timing of the first program cycle. Therefore,depending on the setting of the program cycle switch 1900, the completecycle may have from one to ten program cycles in the complete cyclewhich repeat themselves until the entire winding of the ball iscompleted and the synchronous motor 158 is stopped by the counter 172.

Amplifier 1902, whose output is connected through conductor 1903 to thefirst cathode of tube 1975, is the reset amplifier which returns tube1875 to its reset position, i.e. cathode 1.

It is also necessary to provide the stepping signal for tube 1875 at theconclusion of each program cycle. This signal is produced by the firstthyratron in the flip flop thyratron circuit 1864 whose output isconnected in series with the brake winding 1865. Therefore the steppingsignal for tube 1875 is produced at the same time the brake signal isimpressed on the brake winding 1865 which takes place at the conclusionof each wind cycle, or wind period. In this manner tube 1875 is steppedfrom one cathode to the next upon the conclusion of each wind period.

Only a brief description of one complete operating cy cle will be givenin connection with the block diagram because a more detailed descriptionwill follow upon the completion of the description of the schematicdiagram. This brief description, howevensho'uld serve as a helpfulintroduction for the understanding of the schematic diagram and itsoperation. The source of alternating power 1802 produces two inputsignals, one signal is the previously mentioned series of uniformlyspaced pulses 1800 which represent the revolutions of shaft 506, onepulse for one complete revolution of shaft 506 being generated by themagnetic pick-up 513 in the manner described previously. The same A.C.source 1802 also produces pulses 1910 which comprise the rectifiedversion of the 60 cycle frequency of source 1802. The fully rectifiedwave is inverted and the top half of the signal is used as a means fortiming the pause period and also for adjusting its duration by means ofthe pause switches 1820 through 1829. Since the system should respondonly to the shaft input signal 1800 during the wind period of theprogram cycle, it is necessary to interpose the and gates 1805 and 1804whose function is to impress signal 1800011 the tube stepping amplifier1810 during the wind period and block the 120 cycle signal 1910.

This is accomplished by connecting the gates 1805 and 1804 to the outputof the thyratrons 1864, the clutch thyratron being rendered conductiveduring the wind period and the brake thyratron being rendered conductiveduring the pause period. These thyratrons furnish the necessary signalsto the gates 1805 and 1804 so that only one type of signal is impressedon amplifier 1810 at any given time. It should be mentioned here, ifonly parenthetically, that strictly speaking it is necessary to gateonly gate 1804 rather than both gates because when the brake signal isimpressed on the brake winding 1855 and the flow of current through theclutch winding is simultaneously stopped, shaft 506 is immediatelystopped and the generation of signal 1800 by means of the re volving arm510 is also stopped at the same time.

If the description of the program cycle is to begin with the assumptionthat the cycle begins with the winding period of the cycle, then signals1800 are impressed on the guide pins of tube 1811 whose cathodes 1814are connected to the switches 1820 through 1839. It may be rememberedthat cathode 1 of tube 1811 is connected in parallel to the pause switch1820 and the wind switch 1830, switches 1820 through 1829 being thepause switches which are used for adjusting the length of the pauseperiod and switches 1830 through 1839 being the wind switches foradjusting the number of turns produced during any given program cycle.

Before proceeding with any further description'of the functional cycleof FIG. 18 it should be mentioned here that it will be assumed that theprogram cycle tube 1875 is set on cathode 1 and therefore the circuit issensingthe wind gate 1850. It will be assumed also that the programcycle switch 1000 and its slider arm 1901 is set on position with theresult thatthe'complete cycle will include ten wind periods and tenpause periods. Therefore, the operation of the programmer will includethe operation of all the pause switches'1820 through 1829 all the pausegates 1840 through 1849, all ten Wind switches 1830 through 1839 and allthe wind gates 1850 through 1859.

The first pulse 1800 reaching tube 1811 steps it from cathode zero tocathode 1 with the-result that a pulse is impressed by cathode 10f tube1811 on position 11 (see FIG. 20, switch 1820, conductor U1, andcontact'll) of the ten wind and the ten pause switches. Theseconnections will be described in more detail in connection with thedescription of FIG. and pause switch1820 illus trated more in detail'inPEG. 20 therefore itwill be stated here only briefly that a signal istransmitted by only one and gate 1840 through 1859 at any given instantonly when three signals appear simultaneously on the three input leadsconnected to the input side of each gate circuit. Since the and gatesare three-legged gates, they require three co-phased signals forproducing an output signal in their output.

These three gate signals are impressed on these gates by the three tubes1811, 1813 and 1875 in the manner described below. It has been alreadymentioned how cathode 1 of tube 1811 impresses its signal on onespecific contact, contact 11, FIG. 20, of all the pause and all the Windswitches. If switch 1820 is set on position 11, (in FIG. 20 sliders 2000and 2001 are on contacts 5) two of the input conductors (U1 and T inFIG. 20) of gate 1840 are directly connected to the cathodes 1 of thetransfer tubes 1811 and 1813. Since tube 1811 is a units tube and tube1813 is the tens tube, i.e. tube 1811 responds to each pulse and tube1813responds to each tenth pulse, these two tubes will deliver a pulseto switch 1820 at the same time only'when eleven pulses have beencounted and cathodes 1 of tube 1811 and cathode 1 of tube 1813 areenergized.

Also, in order to obtain a signal in the output of gate 1840, it is alsonecessary to obtain an output signal from cathode 1 of tube 1875. Sincethe block diagram does not indicate the actual connections of theswitches but these connections are shown in FIGS. 19 through 21, it isbest to defer the detailed description of the switch connections to thatgiven in connection with the schematic diagram. Sufiice to say that whenthe program cycle switch is set on position 1, and the switches 1820through 1839 are set in any position from two through 20, it will bepossible to obtain one output signal, or pulse, in the gate circuit andconductor 1869 upon the completion of the wind cycle, or period. Thispulse is impressed on the grid of the thyratron which is connected inseries with the brake winding 1805, thus energizing this thyratron andde-energizing the clutch thyratron which supplies current to the clutchwinding 1871. Accordingly, the clutch winding 1871 will be de-energized,the brake winding 1865 will be energized, rotation of shaft 506 will bestopped by brake 505 and the wind portion of the first program cyclewill be completed and it will be immediately followed by the pauseportion of the cycle.

The reversal of the positions, or of the conductivities, of thethyratrons 1864 produces the required gating signals which are impressedthrough conductors 1809 and 1807 on the and gates 1805 and 1804 with theresult that amplifier 1810 will now receive the pulses per second signal1910 from the full wave rectifier 18031 The control of the entireprogrammer at this time, during the pause period, will be governed bythe pause signals 1910 and the setting of the pause switches, theposition of the switches determining the number of-the pulses which willbe required for restoring the state of the conductivity of the flipfiop' thyratron circuit 1864 to its orig inal state. The pause switcheshave from two to 20 positions and therefore the number of the 120 cyclepulses which will be required for operating the flip flop circuit maybemanually varied from two pulses to twenty pulses.

Accordingly, the length of the pause period may be varied from of asecond to of a second. Similarly the wind 'switches'also have positionsetings from two to 20 and therefore the wind cycle may be set so as toproduce from two turns per program cycle to a maximum of 20 turns foreach program cycle. I It is assumed here, as before, that one completeturn is produced on ball B for each pulse 1800.

The only remaining part of the block diagram that needs to be describedhere for com'pleting the description is switch 1900 and the programcycle tube 1875 whose cathodes are connected to the third conductors ofthe and circuits 1840 through 1859. Depending upon the setting of switch1900, which has ten positions, or contacts, either one or one throughten program cycles are included in the complete cycle. Accordingly, thisswitch enables one to vary the number of the program cycles included inone complete cycle. This is accomplished by setting the slider 1901 toany one of the ten contacts, which selects that cathode of theprogramcycle tube 1875 which delivers *thereset pulse-to tube 1875. Forexample, in FIG.

18, slider 1901 is positioned on contact 7. Therefore, only gate 1356can produce a pulse which will get through switch 1900, contact 7,slider 1901, amplifier 1902, conductor 1903 and cathode 1 of tube 1875.When a negative pulse is impressed on cathode 1 in the above manner, theionization is transferred directly from cathode '7 to cathode 1 and thenext complete cycle, with seven program cycles, will begin to repeatitself indefinitely as long as the synchronous motor 168 remainsconnected to the 60 cycle source. As mentioned previously, motor 168 iscontrolled by the counter 172 which is operated by a timer alsoconnected to the same 60 cycle source. When counter 172 receives apredetermined number of pulses, it disconnects motor 172 from the 60cycle source and the winding station comes to rest. This indicates to anoperator that the ball has been wound and should be replaced with thenext ball.

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM Of the programmer Referring now to schematic diagramof the programmer, it includes FIGS. 19, 20 and 21 which should beplaced with respect to each other in the manner indicated in FIG. 22 forproper reading of the entire diagram.

FIG. 19 includes the following elements: the magnetic pick up 513 whichacts as a source of pulses 1800, the source 1802 of the 120 pulses persecond, the and gates 1804 and 1805, which are indicated as diodes19274929 and a diode 1934, respectively, the units tube 18 11, the tenstube 1813, the step amplifier 1312, and the reset amplifiers 1911 and 1912 which are also shown in FIG. 18 and bear the same numerals.

FIG. 20 includes the pause switch 1820, the three-legged gates 1840through 1859 and the amplifiers 1862 and 1868.

FIG. 21 includes the thyratron flip flop circuit 1864, the brake winding1865, the clutch winding 187 1, amplifier 1902, amplifier 1913, theprogram switch 1900 and the buffer circuit 1914.

Referring now to FIG. 19, the alternating current source 1802 isconnected to the primary winding 1916 of the step-down transformer 1917.The secondary 1918 of transformer 1917 is connected to a full waverectifier circuit which includes diodes 1919 and 1920, resistors 1921through 1924 and the center tap connections. The output of the rectifieris impressed on an isolating capacitor 1925 with the result that signal1910 appears at the junction point 1926. Diode 1927 and conductor 1928are connected to the cathode of thyratron 2100 (see FIG. 21) which isone of the thyratrons of the flip flop circuit 1 864. The secondthyratron is thyratron 2101, FIG. 21.

The cathode-anode circuit of thyratron 2100 is connected in series withthe brake winding 1865 and therefore it is that thyratron which becomesenergized during the pause period. When thyratron 2100 isnon-conductive, no current flows through a cathode resistor 2102 ofthyratron 2100 with the result that conductor 1928 is at a relativelylow potential with respect to ground. Therefore, the timing signals 1911are shorted to ground through diode 1927, conductor 1928, resistor 2102and a grounded biasing battery 2135. When thyraton 2100 becomesconductive, the IR drop across the cathode resistor 2102 of thyratron2100 produces a positive blocking signal on conductor 1928 with theresult that the 120 cycle pulses 1910 are no longer shunted to groundthrough diode 1927, with the result that they are impressed on diode1929 and conductor 1930 which is connected to the grids of the steppingamplifier 1810. Amplifier 1810 includes a twin triode 19314933. Theplate of triode 1931 is connected directly to a guide pin G1 of theunits counting tube 1811 and the plate of triode 1933 is connected tothe second guide pin G2 of the units counting tube 1811. Diodes 1927 and1929, therefore, act as two-legged AND gate.

A phase delay network 1932-1951 is connected between conductor 1930 andthe grid of triode 1933 so as to produce a delayed pulse in thecathode-plate circuit of triode 1933 for stepping the ionization fromguide pin G1 to guide pin G2 throughout the stepping cycle of tube 1811.

The units counting tube 1811, and especially its guide pins G1 and G2,are also connected to the Wind signals 1300 through a diode 1934 whichimpresses these signals on the triodes 1931 and 1933 when shaft 506 isrevolving. Signal 1800 is blocked from other circuits by diode 1929.Diode 1934 blocks signal 1910 from the pulse shaper 1891 during thepause period. Diode 1934, therefore, acts as a one-legged diode. It ispossible to use a onelegged diode here because no pulses 1800 areproduced by the pulse generator 513510506. When the pulse generator513-510 d is replaced with a constant frequency sour-cc, then the gatecircuit should be identical to that for the signals 1910. Such circuitis illustrated in FIG. 18, where gate 5 is connected to conductor 1807as well as the source of signals 1801, conductor 1807 furnishing thesignals for periodically eliminating the signal from source 1801.Accordingly, tube 1311 is stepped from cathode 0 to cathode 9 either bythe signals 1910 or 1800 at any given time with the result that signalsare impressed on conductors U0 through U9 which are connected to thesimilarly numbered conductors and terminals, or contacts, of all tenwind and all ten pause switches 1820 through 1839.

Only one switch 1820, which is the first pause switch, is illustrated inFIG. 20. Examination of the connections of this switch indicates thatcathode 0 of tube 1811 is connected to the terminals 10 and 20 of theleft side, or the units side, of the switch; cathode 1 is connected toterminal 11 through a conductor U1; cathode 2 is connected through aconductor U2 to terminals 1 2 and 2, etc. as indicated in the schematicdiagram. As will be explained later, it is possible to obtain from 1 to20 turns of the winding on a ball, depending on the setting of thesliders 2013i and 2001,even though the units contacts are connected inparallel. This will be described later in connection with a moredetailed description of FIG. 20 and switch 1820.

The cathodes 1 through 9 of tube 1511 are also connected to a commonconductor 1954 through the biasing resistors and through a conductor1935 to a grounded biasing source 1936. Conductor 1954 is also connectedto a resistor 1937 and a diode 1933 which are a part of the biasingcircuit.

Ionization of tube 1811 is returned to the 0 cathode by impressing anegative pulse on cathode 0 at the conclusion of any given pause or windperiod. This transfer, or returning, of the ionization to the 0 cathodeis accomplished from any cathodes 1 through 9 of tube 1811. Stateddifferently, the ionization is transferred to the 0 cathode by means ofthe circuit, which is described below, irrespective of the position ofthe ionization on the remaning cathodes, such as cathodes 1 through 9,the negative pulse having a sufficiently large negative amplitude so asto accomplish the above transfer. The circuit for accomplishing thistransfer is as follows: the cathode of the wind and pause thyrtrons 2101and 21110 are connected over conductors 2140 and 214 1 to twodifferentiating networks. One differentiating network, connected to thecathode of the pause thyratron 2100 through conductor 2141, includes acapacitor 2109 and a grounded resistor 2103. The second diiferentiatingnetwork includes a capacitor 2104 and a grounded resistor 2107, whichare connected to the cathode of the Wind thyratron 2101 throughconductor 2140. The time constant of these differentiating networks aresuch that they produce a positive and a negative pulse only at the timethe conductivities of these two thyratrons is alternated; namely when,for example, the wind thyratron 2101 is made conductive by the positivepulse impressed on its grid 2108 and the pause" thyratron 21110 isrendered nonconductive by the removal of the plate potential by thecross-coupling condenser 2109 which, at this instant, im-

1. A PROGRAMMER FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF A BALL WINDING MACHINEFOLLOWING A REPEATED SEQUENCE OF OPERATION INCLUDING A WIND PERIODFOLLOWED BY A PAUSE PERIOD, A PLURALITY OF WIND AND PAUSE PERIODSINCLUDED IN A SINGLE COMPLETE CYCLE, AND A PLURALITY OF COMPLETE CYCLESREPEATED A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF TIMES FOR COMPLETE CYCLES THE ENTIREWINDING ON SAID BALL, SAID PROGRAMMER INCLUDING (A) A FIRST SOURCE OFWIND PULSES FOR TIMING THE DURATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL WIND PERIODS INCLUDEDIN SAID COMPLETE CYCLE, (B) A SECOND SOURCE OF PAUSE PULSES FOR TIMINGTHE DURATION OF INDIVIDUAL PAUSE PERIODS INCLUDED IN SAID COMPLETECYCLE, (C) FIRST PULSE-COUNTING MEANS, (D) SECOND MEANS SEQUENTIALLYCONNECTING SAID FIRST SOURCE AND THEN SAID SECOND SOURCE TO SAID FIRSTPULSE COUNTING MEANS, (E) A FIRST SET OF WIND SWITCHES CONNECTED TO SAIDFIRST COUNTING MEANS, (F) A SECOND SET OF PAUSE SWITCHES CONNECTED TOSAID FIRST COUNTING MEANS, (G) A FIRST SET OF THREE LEG WIND GATESCORRESPONDING TO AND CONNECTED TO THE RESPECTIVE SWITCHES OF SAID FIRSTSET OF WIND SWITCHES, (H) EACH GATE OF THE FIRST SET HAVING FIRST,SECOND AND THIRD LEGS, (I) A SECOND SET OF THREE LEG PAUSE GATESCORRESPONDING TO AND CONNECTED TO THE RESPECTIVE SWITCHES OF SAID SET OFPAUSE SWITCHES, (J) EACH GATE OF THE SECOND SET HAVING FIRST, SECOND ANDTHIRD LEGS, (K) FIRST AND SECOND CONTROL CIRCUITS CONNECTED TO ANDOPERATED RESPECTIVELY FIRST BY SAID FIRST SET OF GATES AND THEN BY SAIDSECOND SET OF GATES, SAID FIRST SET OF WIND GATES MAKING SAID FIRSTCONTROL CIRCUIT CONDUCTIVE AND SAID SECOND CONTROL CIRCUITNON-CONDUCTIVE TO INITIATE SAID WIND PERIOD OF OPERATION IN SAIDMACHINE, AND SAID SECOND SET OF PAUSE GATES MAKING SAID SECOND CONTROLCIRCUIT CONDUCTIVE AND SAID FIRST CIRCUIT NON-CONDUCTIVE TO INITIATESAID PAUSE PERIOD OF OPERATION IN SAID MACHINE, (1) AND A SECOND PULSECOUNTING MEANS CONNECTED TO AND RESPONSIVE TO THE OPERATION OF ONE OFSAID CONTROL CIRCUITS, SAID SECOND COUNTING MEANS DETERMINING THE NUMBEROF THE PROGRAM CYCLES INCLUDED IN SAID COMPLETE CYCLE REPEATED BY SAIDMACHINE.